Thank you Mme Samm and Lana from It Seams to be Sew for organizing the Tree Bird blog hop.  When I saw the blog button for this hop I knew that I had to participate–and the fabric, designed by Tracy Lizotte for Elizabeth Studio did not disappoint me.  It is wonderful and the birds look so beautiful.

I couldn’t limit myself to one project and I had multiple ideas for a blog post, including a bloopers edition (since put aside–things that are funny in the middle of the night, tend not to be funny during the day, lol).  I’ll share some tips on using panels with you and show you how I used these panels.  First I made a quilt featuring panels from the Beautiful Bird line, including a tree panel, which mysteriously looks like it could have been drawn from my back yard.

I thought that the tree looked like it needed some feathered friends so I liberally added birdhouses and birds using raw edge, fusible applique.   Fussy cutting and applique are wonderful ways to use fabric panels.  Small panels also look wonderful as the focal point or center in a pieced block.  For accuracy cut the panels with a ruler rather than relying on the printed marks on the fabric.

I designed the quilt specifically for the bird panels so each block featured a different panel.  Once I started quilting I knew that this would be a great place to practice some of my quilting skills, including stitching in the ditch and fills.  Panels are wonderful places to practice your quilting skills–let loose and let your creativity flow!

The quilting gives the birds dimension and life.  Of course, one can’t have birds without feathers, so I quilted a feather border and some cardinals in the alternating blocks.  Quilting designs should reference fabric and piecing/applique designs.

We love watching the birds while sitting at the table, so placing them in a table runner was a logical choice.  I wanted to practice a binding with non-90 degree angles so I drafted  a hexagon, and placed a bird panel into each side.  In order to place a panel into a larger pattern piece, border it with additional fabric, then cut the ‘made’ fabric using the pattern.  Using projects made with panels to practice new techniques and skills saves time–and looks great!

In addition to the table runner, I took an ‘orphan’ block of machine embroidery and bordered it with birds to make a bread warmer.  The feather-y embroidery design by Sew Swell Designs compliments the birds.  You can use orphan blocks, machine embroidery, or even large fabric motifs like a fabric panel.

The bread warmer rests on the branches of our wonderful cherry tree, which gives us at least one pie full of cherries each year as long as we pick them before the birds!  Yes, that is snow.  Although I can’t boast of 8 foot snow banks in my drive like fellow blog hopper, Teatime Creations , snow falling and winter weather advisories still aren’t great news for the first weekend of Spring.  Someone saw a robin, the first harbinger of Wisconsin spring, this week (hopefully it wasn’t a rumor).  Working with this beautiful line has certainly made me long for warmer temperatures, gardens and outdoor activities.  Please be sure to visit these wonderful blogs for more of the blog hop:

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